First evidence for the conifer Pinus, as Pinuxylon selmeierianum sp. nov., during the Paleogene on Wootton Peninsula, northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

Abstract

We describe a new fossil wood species of pine, Pinuxylon selmeierianum sp. nov., for a piece of petrified wood encased within a concretion that was recovered in marine, fine-grained sandstones of the Paleogene Eureka Sound Group on Wootton Peninsula, Ellesmere Island. The fossil wood is allochthonous, having drifted in from a nearby landmass. Within the fossil wood genus Pinuxylon Gothan, 1905, Pinuxylon selmeierianum sp. nov. shares anatomical characteristics with the haploxylon sections Parrya Mayr, 1890 and Strobus Little and Critchfield, 1969. The new species is most closely related to the extant Pinus lambertiana Douglas, 1827, a species belonging to section Strobus. Our study provides the first evidence for a fossil Pinus Linné, 1753 on Wootton Peninsula, supporting the idea that Pinus was an “Arctic conifer”, and providing insights into Paleogene vegetation at high latitudes.